Directions to Hemlock Overlook Regional Park

The start/finish of the Bull Run Run is at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park. Additionally, this is an occasional meeting place for training runs. Hemlock is not that hard to find, but it is a bit complicated. Here are some instructions. Allow a great deal of time if it's your first attempt to reach the park.

Our Directions

These directions assume you are already in the Washington area. If you are coming from the north on I-95 or I-270, I suggest you go counter-clockwise around the Beltway (I-495) to I-66 and use the I-66 Directions below. If you are coming from points south on I-95, use the directions for I-95 South. If you are coming from the west on I-66, you can take exit 52 (the second of two Hwy 29 exits) and take Hwy 29 east to Clifton Road and otherwise follow the I-66 instructions below. If you are coming from southern Maryland and crossing the Wilson Bridge or coming from Alexandria or Springfield, you can take the Beltway to I-66 and follow the I-66 Directions, or you can take the alternate route on Braddock Road. This route is probably shorter, but more complicated.

The Easiest Way: The easiest way (but not always the fastest) is to come from I-66 to the north. Here is a map. Directions are below the map.

Here are the written directions. They start on the Capital Beltway, which is I-495 on the western half at least:

Take I-66 off the Beltway going west toward Front Royal (don't go inbound toward Washington). (Note: I-66 East of the Beltway is restricted to high occupancy vehicles (HOV) during weekday rush hours. West of the Beltway, there is an HOV lane, but non-HOV traffic may use the rest of the road at all times.)

Go about 10 miles to Exit 55, the Fairfax County Parkway. Take the exit south toward Springfield. That's the second of the two Exit 55 exits if you are going westbound.

Go about a mile south on the Fairfax County Parkway to the first exit, and go right on Lee Highway, Hwy 29. You will be heading west but the sign will say south because Hwy 29 is, overall, an north-south road. Here, however, it is going east-west. In any event, when you get off of the Parkway, go right.

Go west/south on Lee Highway for over a mile or so to the signal at Clifton Road (Route 645). That is the third signal. Go left (south) at this signal. (There is a 7 Eleven on the southwest corner of this intersection.)

Take Clifton Road south, through the signal at Braddock Road then about four miles down to Clifton. Just before the town of Clifton, the road comes to a "T" intersection. There is a stop sign if you go straight, but you bear right and only have a Yield sign.

Go into the town of Clifton. Cross the railroad tracks. Stay straight.

In Clifton, you come to a three way stop. Clifton Road goes off to the left. You don't take that. You go straight up the hill on what eventually becomes Kincheloe Road.

About a mile out of Clifton you reach a four way stop. This is Yates Ford Road. Turn right (west) on Yates Ford Road.

Go to the end of Yates Ford Road (a little over a mile). You have arrived!

From the South on I-95

Take the Occuquan Exit
(Exit 160) to Rt. 123 (Ox Road) 8.0 miles to Clifton Road, then left
toward Hemlock Overlook. Just shy of 4 miles from the Ox Road
intersection, Yates Ford Road enters from the right; one quarter mile
later, turn left onto Yates Ford Road, and follow 1.9 miles to the end
into Hemlock Overlook.

From the Wilson Bridge, Alexandria, and Springfield

From the Beltway I-495, take Exit 5, Braddock Road west 1.7 miles to the double left turn onto Burke Lake Road; travel 4.7 miles to the juncture where Burke Lake Road becomes Clifton. Just shy of 4 miles from this point, Yates Ford Road enters Clifton Road from the right; one quarter mile later, turn left onto Yates Ford Road, and follow 1.9 miles to the end into Hemlock Overlook.